Western Vesper-Sparrow 355 



A. Larger ; wing over 3 ; lateral tail-feathers white ; no median 



crown-stripe. P. g. confinis, p. 355. 



B. Smaller ; wing under 3 ; lateral tail-feathers not conspicuously 



white. 



a. Edge of the wing white. 



a^ Median crown-stripe anteriorly buffy, posteriorly white. 



P. lecontei, p. 361. 

 b^ Median crown-stripe if defined, buffy throughout. 



a^ Superciliary stripes bright yellow, contrasting with the 

 dusky buffy ear-coverts. P. s. alaudinus, p. 357. 



b* Superciliary region buffy, like the ear-coverts. 



C. bairdi, p. 358. 



b. Edge of the wing yellow ; breast buffy without stripes (in 



adult). A. s. bimaculatus, p. 359. 



Western Vesper-Sparrow. Pooecetes gramineus confinis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 540a— Colorado Records— Allen 72, pp. 149, 156, 

 162 ; Aiken 72, p. 199 ; Ridgway 73, p. 182 ; Trippe 74, p. 129 

 Henshaw 75, p. 256 ; Scott 79, p. 93 ; Drew 81, p. 90 ; 85, p. 16 

 Tresz 81, p. 42 ; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 189 ; Beckham 85, p. 141 

 Morrison 88, p. 74 ; 89, p. 36 ; Lowe 92, p. 101 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 

 101, 214 ; Dille 03, p. 74 ; Henderson 03, p. 108 ; 09, p. 236 ; Warren 

 06, p. 22 ; 08, p. 23 ; 09 p. 16 ; Oilman 07, p. 156 ; Markman 07, 

 p. 157 ; Rockwell 08, p. 171. 



Description. — Male — General coloiu* above pale greyish-brown, con- 

 spicuously striped with dusky black ; wings dusky, edged with pale 

 brown, lesser wing-coverts cinnamon or rufous-brown, forming a 

 shoulder-patch ; tail like the wings, but the outer pair of feathers largely 

 white, with a narrow basal strip of dusky along the inner webs ; below 

 white narrowly streaked with dusky on the breast and flanks ; traces 

 of a white nuchal collar, especially behind the ear-coverts ; iris brown, 

 bill horny, dusky toward the culmen and tip, legs pale brown. Length 

 6 0; wing 3-40; tail 2-60; culmen -45; tarsus -73. 



The sexes are alike ; in the autumn after the moult they are 

 rather more richly coloured with a rufous-brown tinge, but the change 

 is not marked. Young birds closely resemble the adults, but the mark- 

 ings are not so well defined and the rufous or greyish edgings to the 

 scapulars and secondaries are broader and more conspicuous. 



Distribution. — Western North America except the Pacific coast ; 

 breeding from British Columbia and Manitoba southwards to the 

 highlands of Mexico and Arizona ; south in winter to Texas, southern 

 Mexico and southern California. 



The Western Vesper-Sparrow is a very common summer bird in 

 Colorado, and is found throughout the State from the plains up to 



z 2 



